Yamsmos's favorite Ozzie Alonso takes on Barcelona (Robert Sorbo- Reuters photo)

why do you read this blog??? well the news is timely etc, but you also like the “fan’s point of view without any real journalistic skill”… um, well that is what i tell myself anyway. so if that is what you like, you are in for a treat. mix that with a decent amount of bier, and there you have a phenomenal gosounders post….please note that the “decent amount of bier” tonight really means an “over decent amount of bier” and you will excuse the seriously large amount of grammar, spelling and over all nonsensical problems with the post to follow, and we will get along just fine.

but boy oh boy was that was a ton of fun… yeah, i am serious, it was fun. well the first half at least

there really isn’t a need/point to over analyse our play etc. it was a friendly where both teams did wholesale changes at the half, and it meant nothing. so i don’t want to over complicate the analysis part (yes, i am copping out) so let’s just talk about the talking points shall we?

- kudo’s to you ECS, your TIFO was a great “yeah, we kinda f’d up, but we will laugh at ourselves”. fantastic response…. the upside down “ooops’ was my fav. perfect answer.

- much of the game was spent with me and my mates getting under the skin of a very loyal, but not very “sarcasm friendly”, barca fan. with messi’s first touch of the ball we started singing “who are ya, who are ya” and this guy was a bit frustrated and pissed to be honest. we smelled blood. so within a small amount of time, messi took a free kick and put it a little wide. my small contingent responded with

“YOU”RE NOT VERY GOOD,    YOU’RE NOT VERY GOOD

YOU’RE NOT VERY

YOU’RE NOT VERY

YOU’RE NOT VERY GOOD!”

of course, we know messi, and this is a very ironic/sarcastic chant, but our oversezealous barca fan didn’t understand this and he promptly turned around and scolded us…… “don’t you guys know that he is the best player in the world?”   oh, it was game on at that point. the poor guy didn’t know what hit him. comments like “boy, he was sure lucky to meg keller” and “ best player in the world? pbbt, he isn’t even 6 foot tall”  and “is messi his real name? that just sounds like a made up name”  etc etc etc tormented this poor guys enjoyment of the game the whole match. what can i say? we are sharks… the poor guy showed blood, and we pounced.

so not 20 minutes into the game, messi showed his pure class and why he truly is one of the best, and put a relatively unstoppable goal past keller. our smug friend kind of looked back with an “i told you so” kind of look, but we proudly responded with a…

“2-1,

WE’RE GONNA WIN 2-1,

WE’RE GONNA WIN 2-1…”

repeat.

this got a few chuckles, but not from our stoic catalan friend.

boy, please excuse my digressions. let me get back on course if you please.

- leo gonzalez (sp?) he was very very very very solid. good defending, and he clearly showed that he liked to go forward, so that was very nice. i don’t know if he is fully our LB answer, but it sure seems like it. nice intro for him.

- our general first half show was solid… did they run the show for much/most of the 1/2? yup, they sure did. but did we fold? not at all. we pushed them at times. had some real shots at times, and i honestly believe that there is no doubt, that at a few times during the game, most of the barca players will have thought… “hey, these guys are pretty good”?   i actually have no doubt about that. of course everyone in the whole dang stadium will know that class difference, but SSFC held their own and can hold their heads high.

- zakuani gave puyol a few things to think about… that was nice

- barcelona’s keeper is angry… why the heck is he so angry?

- i never have liked dani alves, and this game just solidifies my beliefs. he is a great player no doubt, but coupled with that…. um, how do you say “he is a whiney littlebitch” in french?  how can you like a guy that likes to wear a turtleneck, or dickie as it were in 70 degree heat. brett boone had the same damn problem.

- messi’s second goal was met with a rather raucous

“3-2

WE’RE GONNA WIN 3-2

WE’RE GONNA WIN 3-2

WE’RE GONNA WIN 3-2″and repeat

- ALONSO. DAMN. he was running that midfield and stopping them left right and center. i didn’t want them to take notice, so over and over i kept yelling at alonso to stop playing so well…. seriously, there is no denying my love for this kid, but i fear for the times that he shines. as much as i want to believe that he is sounders through and through… well… he is going to head off to a much better league one of these days.

- HALF TIME…. ok, i am pleased. fantastically entertaining game. sounders holding their own if you will, and the beers are not NOT flowing.

but OH the second half. boy. what can i say. yes, i fully get the value of a preseason friendly for barcelona, and yes i fully get that we have a VERY important match against RSL this saturdayand an injury tonight would be terrible…. but even given those things, the wholesale changes made me realize two things

1. their second teams is about 59 times better than our second team

2. it made for a very boring second half. so boring that the damn WAVE reared it’s ugly head in the crowd. if you are soooooo bored that you think the wave is a good idea, well that is a problem. it makes me worry for the 30,000 fans that are a bit on the neutral side. i want them to have a full 90 minutes of great soccer, but  let’s be honest, it was more on the 45 minutes side.

- during the second half, neither team really got rhythm, even though they clearly had a serious advantage skill wise. it was hard to exactly put your finger on why, but the most experienced soccer fan, and the most newbie soccer fan could agree and have told you… .”ummm, this is pretty boring”.   it is too bad b/c the first half was so great. but so-be-it. beggars can’t be choosers eh? but none-the-less, let’s get on to the second half talking points eh. well not really, let’s do the main crap b/c i am le tired.

-  the 75th minute roles around and they score again…..queue

“4-3

WE’RE GONNA WIN 4-3

WE’RE GONNA WIN 4-3

WE’RE GONNA WIN 4-3″ and repeat

- then just as the game is about to finish…. another barca goal right at the stroke of full time…. uh huh… queue

“5-4

WE’RE GONNA WIN 5-4

WE’RE GONNA WIN 5-4

WE’RE GONNA WIN 5-4″ and repeat.

Seriously, how else can you respond? you are playing the best team in the world, and you just want to have fun. and we did.

- in summary, the only thing i could have asked for is a goal, we had only a few real chances, but that would have been fantastic.

if this post has faded. well you are right. i am tired and i have typed for an hour. great night, great fun, and now i have to go for a great sleep.

post the parts of the match that i missed. thanks

**UPDATE**

you know when you wake up in the morning, after a “night out” and you just have that ‘feeling’ like…’oh no what did i do?’  for some of you, well that was a drunk text, and for others, well maybe quite a bit more. well for me this morning, it was ‘oh crap, i drunk posted again’.   so first thing i do when i get into work is read my post. and it goes a little bit like this….

“uh huh. ok. well that wasn’t too bad. spelling error there. oh, that joke fell flat. who reads this crap? oh no, i said that?”

so i appreciate that i shouldn’t come in and clean this thing up, b/c it is kinda funny to laugh at myself… but i am updating one or two small bits…

plus i need to add 1 more thing that i can’t believe i forgot. i haven’t been too shy in saying that i am not a “rave green” fan, although it is growing on me. but lord in heaven, how do you even invent the color that barca was wearing last night. that was the most hideous thing i have ever seen. anytime i bitch about rave green, please remind me of the cherynobal infused jersey that the barca players had to wear.

World Footballer of the Year, Lionel Messi, showed why he has that title (AP photo Elaine Thompson)

Quotes by Seattle’s Sigi Shmid, Nate Jaqua, Kasey Keller, Freddy Ljungberg and FC Barcelona’s Josep Guardiola, Thierry Henry, Jonathan Dos Santos, Adriano Henrique, and Gerard Pique.

Coach Sigi Schmid

General Comments: “It was a lesson. They’re a very good team. There’s a value on things and that’s why their players are worth a lot of money. Good example of what we want to get to. In the first half we had three half decent chances. I’m proud of our guys. They hung in there. This is team that doesn’t give up possession and can make you look silly. We battled. Times we could have battled harder, but we have a greater goal. They’re an excellent team and they played an excellent game of futbol.”

On what learn from match: “We can learn a lot of things. Young players and old players learned a lot. The game showed how getting the ball to open players and having four options and finishing out the play. When you compare Spanish Second Division to England or Germany, they are the most technically clean. They don’t make technical errors. We won the ball and there’d be a mis-touch or mis-trap. When you grow up in this country you get away with those mistakes, but not there. Those are things we can lean from. If you’re technically clean on the ball, you have a lot of time to observe the field.”

On team’s performance: “I’m not planning on punishing our players. Tonight for them was a good lesson. We’re realistic. We know where we’re at and we’re an expansion team that’s getting to know each other. Some players stepped up and played well. There were some positive things for us to gain. It’s not punishment it’s learning and continuing to get better because someday they might want to play at that level. Tonight we played the elite of the elite.”

On Lionel Messi: “All I can tell you is that in 2005 when we played the Youth Championships and we beat Argentina 1-0. They didn’t play Messi until the second half and we shut him out. I thanked their coach after the game. I thought he was the best player in the world then and I think he still is the best player in the world. He has the ability to make something out of nothing.”

On game for fans: “It was great. It shows a lot for our city, the city of Seattle. There were some more Barcelona fans than there were Chelsea fans. I hope they don’t walk away disappointed. I hope they realize they got to watch a great team toady. Tonight, some kids got to see Messi and Henry. I hope our fans our proud of the Sounders and realize what we’re doing herre by bringing teams of that caliber here to play. That’s not something everybody gets to do.”

On being prepared for Barcelona: “In the concept they understood it. Once you’re out there though, you’re like ‘wow.’ When you play a team like that, you want to hold onto the ball. Today, as an example, when you compare their lineup today against the lineup against the Galaxy, today was their full engine.”

On game strategy: “I didn’t want to develop a tactical game plan. We wanted the fans to enjoy Barcelona as they are and enjoy our team as they are. They saw a great game and some great goals and a Sounders team that played hard.”

Nate Jaqua

On impressions of FC Barcelona: “They’re a great team, the way they move, their knowledge of the game. It was fun playing against them. We had some chances to score and it would have been nice to put one in the back of the net, but it was a good experience to play a team like that.”

On his scoring chance early in the match: “I just didn’t get a good hold of it. I probably should have taken another touch and maybe slid it to someone who had a better chance on goal. It was a little early on there and it kind of snuck up on me. We still had a couple other ones, Freddie (Ljungberg) had a good chance. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t have at least put one in the back of the net.”

On what makes Barcelona so good: “They are an amazing team. In general, just their movement. They always have two or three options available at all times. They play a very simple game and it makes it easy on themselves. And then you also have some players that have tremendous ability like (Lionel) Messi who scored two goals.”

Kasey Keller

On Lionel Messi: “At this moment in time, if you threw a blanket over the top players in the world he would be under it. And he’s still, what, 22, 23? It’s scary. And he’s a good kid too. I’ve been fortunate enough to hang out with him a couple different times. He’s just a good guy and there’s no reason why in the next 10 years he can’t basically be the pinnacle.”

On thoughts on timing of tonight’s match and playing the first half: “I think it’s okay. In a normal week after the bad game over the weekend we would have had a couple hard training sessions and maybe had today off. The emotional high coming from this game and then going to Salt Lake is what I’m more worried about. For the club, and the city and the players, you don’t pass up these games. It doesn’t matter what the timing is, when you’re given the opportunity. What I’m really hoping for is that in 20 years time, we’ll be so big that these games will be like, hey no, it’s in the middle of our season and it will be a distraction from what the goal is and that’s to win the league. But we’ve got a ways to go. But I’m just so proud of the city, the club and everything they’ve done to put on a game like this.”

On Barcelona’s attack: “You have probably the best attacking player in the world the last six to seven years in Henry and then the future best attacking player in the world on the other side in Messi. Not to mention, the rest of the cast isn’t too bad either. And the movement off the ball and the first touch. It was an absolute lesson and hopefully a pleasure for the fans to see how the best team in the world plays.”

Freddie Ljungberg

On FC Barcelona and game in general: “They have great technical ability and they keep the ball really well. It was just great for the fans to come and see the game, and enjoy it.”

On whether Lionel Messi is the best player in the world right now: “Yeah, I think he is. He’s so quick and just a brilliant player.”

FC BARCELONA

FC Barcelona Coach Josep Guardiola

On Lionel Messi: “You see him on TV all the time, I see him every day. He is the best in the world not only for his youth, but also for his ability to dominate all aspects of the game.”

On MLS: “I think it’s getting better, year by year. Good players are coming and the organizations are stronger. It’s good. We’re happy to be here. We came last year and this year we came back and we’re happy to play the teams in the United States. There are interesting players that could player in Europe.”

On Qwest Field: “It was amazing. The only problem was the pitch. Yesterday the owner of the Sounders explained to me the support for his team and we saw that tonight. It was a pleasure for us and for the players to play in the marvelous stadium. We also enjoyed the city. It was very nice.”

On Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “He’s a top player. He will adapt and have no problems. The top players adapt in systems. He played good in Italy and I am convinced that he likes this way to play. That is the real reason he decided to join us. The most important thing is that in the next few weeks he’ll be ready to play with us.”

On new players: “We have four new players. The good thing is that they fit well, are disciplined, they practice and play right because they are young. About Jonathan Dos Santos specifically, he is great and has a bright future. I’ve been with him for three weeks and I’m sure he will help a lot.”

Thierry Henry

On his experience in Seattle and the atmosphere at Qwest Field: “It was amazing. It really reminded me of a crowd in Europe, they were all cheering the Sounders and rightly so. It was tremendous and a great atmosphere, they made it really difficult for us in the first half. They had a go at us and they nearly scored two goals, and we scored two goals. We are working hard this preseason, playing two games each day. It isn’t easy but we had a good game.”

On experiencing a crowd like the one tonight over here in the U.S.: “The Seattle fans were happy to see us, but they were supporting their team. That is what you do when you support your team, and it was nice to see.”

On comparing the level of play of the Sounders to that of other MLS teams: “The guy’s were saying here the fans were supporting their team. When we played in the Rose Bowl, everybody came to see Barcelona. The fans came here to see Barcelona too, but support their team at the same time.”

On playing against Freddie Ljungberg: “It was a quick one, he only played 45 minutes and I only played 45 minutes. It was kind of weird to be on opposite sides, we played together for eight years. I saw him before in the hotel. It was good to see him.”

Jonathan Dos Santos

On the atmosphere at Qwest Field tonight: “It is marvelous to play in a stadium like this. It is also great to play with world-wide players such as [Lionel] Messi and other guys on the Barcelona team.”

On the competition level against the Seattle Sounders: “Good. The Sounders played a very good game and their competitiveness was really good. They were pressing us in their offense. They have very good players such as [Freddie] Ljungberg who is driving the team and is a very good player.”

Adriano Henrique

On his reaction to the game: “We played well and did some good passes with the ball. The were able to defend us very well, but we were still able to get good pressure and score some goals.”

On coming over to the U.S. and the atmosphere at tonight’s game: “This is the second time I have been over here and I’m very happy to be back. We’re very happy about the fans because they were very loud and cheer the teams, which motivated to play really well.

Gerard Pique

On the play of Barcelona tonight: “I think we played good, the Sounders are a very good team. I think the thing is continue with the competition against good teams and get better everyday.”

Osvaldo Alonso in action against Barcelona (Daniel Houghton- Seattle Times photo)

From Sounders FC…

Lionel Messi scored two first-half goals to lead FC Barcelona to a 4-0 win over the Seattle Sounders FC in a friendly match played before a record crowd of 66,848 on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field on Wednesday night.

The attendance was also the largest for a professional soccer match played in Seattle. The previous mark was 66,830 for a 2006 friendly between Real Madrid and D.C. United.

Jeffren Suarez and Pedro Rodriguez scored in the second half for Barcelona, which completes its U.S. tour against Mexico’s CD Guadalajara on Saturday in San Francisco.

Messi, a 22-year-old Argentine midfielder, opened the scoring in the 21^st minute of the match with a composed, curling 25-yard shot past Kasey Keller following a pass by Xavi Hernandez.

Xavi also assisted on Messi’s second goal. Messi brought down the ball inside the 6-yard box and quickly poked it left-footed under Keller.

It was the second match for FC Barcelona in the 2009 U.S. Tour. It defeated the L.A. Galaxy 2-1 at the Rose Bowl last Saturday.

Freddie Ljungberg produced Seattle’s best scoring chance in the first half. Barcelona keeper Jose Manuel Pinto’s weak clearance was taken by Ljungberg but his 18-yard drive went wide left.

Defender Leo Gonzalez played his first match for the Sounders FC after signing July 2^nd but missing training and league play with the Costa Rican National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Both Seattle and Barcelona substituted freely at halftime with only Sounders FC defender James Riley remaining on the pitch from the starting 22. He was replaced in the 61^st minute.

A Rodriguez cross set up Jeffren Suarez at the far post in the 75^th minute and Rodriguez converted a rebound from a Suarez shot past Seattle goalkeeper Terry Boss in the 89^th.

Seattle resumes MLS play on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah against Real Salt Lake at 6:00 p.m. PT.

Scoring Summary

Barça has also defeated Al-Ahly from Egypt and drawn with Tottenham Hotspur in the 2009 pre-season. Those matches were in the Wembley Cup.

If you want some excellent insight into this star-studded roster from Camp Nou, check out Prost Amerika’s article on their “Star Studded Squad“. Find out more information about Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Xavi Hernandez, Carlos Puyol, Iniesta, and Barça’s other big guns.

On the Sounders FC side, Midfielder Stephen King is the only player who is definitely out with a hamstring injury. This could also be the first appearance of Costa Rican National Team defender, Leo Gonzalez in Rave Green (he will be wearing #19).

Reminder for Season Ticket Holders: Use your Friendly Match B ticket.

Kickoff is set for 730p and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early due to traffic and construction. The club is encouraging fans “to avoid south royal Brougham way unless they park in the Qwest event Center Garage. fans parking in the garage will have access by one lane only via south royal Brougham way and fourth avenue south.”

The Match is Sold Out, but tickets can still be bought from Season Ticket Holders or on StubHub.

It looks like the record attendance for a Seattle Soccer match is being threatened. The current record for the largest crowd to watch soccer in Seattle is 66,830 when Real Madrid came to Qwest to play DC United 3 years ago.

i have had a few questions on if we should expect, or even hope for a fan fest with barca like we did with chelsea. let me state that i have no definitive knowledge, but there are 3 reasons why…

[Buy Tickets]

1. the cheslea fan fest was put on and run by adidas. barca is sponsored by nike.

2. the pitch is going to need EVERY last ounce of help to be ready for game day. with the kenny chesney concert on saturday, that gave the grounds crew only 4 days to prepare the field. for those that saw brazil/china last year, you know what that can mean. even a light practice the day before would be a bad idea

3. i have caught a quick glance at the barca team itinerary and no such thing was listed.

so while i have not had a flat our NO told to me by anyone with any credibility, well, it just isn’t going to happen. having said that, i have asked if i could be in barca’s starting 11 on wednesday, and i haven’t had anyone give me a flat out no for that either, so i am still holding out hope.

sorry if i got your hopes up with that title, but  i have to have some fun now and again.

[Buy Tickets from Season Ticket Holders or StubHub]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Lionel Andrés Messi
Bojan Krkic Pérez
Thierry Henry
Scherrer Cabelino Maxwell Andrade
Henrique Adriano Buss
Victor Valdes Arribas
Gerard Piqué Bernabeu
Rafael Márquez Álvarez
Carles Puyol Saforcada
Xavier Hernandez Creus
Eidur Smari Gudjohnsen
Andrés Iniesta Lujan
Seydou Keita
Daniel Alves da Silva
Éric Abidal
Albert Jorquera Fortia
Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma
Sergio Busquets Burgos
Victor Sánchez Mata
Marc Muniesa
Andreu Fontàs
Jonathan dos Santos
Jeffren Suarez

From BarcaLoco

barca likes him so much, they put a €250m buy out clause in his contract. clearly that has to be just for show, b/c even if he scored 50 goals a year (which he won’t) nobody is worth that kind of money.

he was introduced at camp nou to 60,000 fans. crazy.

is that all i got? yup. slow news day and this 90 degree heat causes slow brain thought and no real insight. you could have read this same info on 430 other sites earlier today. but you didn’t, or if you did, you felt it worthy enough to reread here b/c your brain is slow today too.

uh, go sounders and stuff

Updated: Zlatan will be out for 3 weeks following a hand surgery. He will be in Seattle, but will not play.

You can buy tickets at Ticketmaster or from Season Ticket Holders.

You’re not going to want to miss this one!

Only 2,000 seats remain for the July 18th friendly against Chelsea. [Buy Tickets]

Tickets are still available to watch the US Men’s National Soccer Team at Qwest Field onThe Fourth of July in an opening round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. [Buy Tickets].